FIRST DIVISION [G.R. No. 199166. April 20, 2015.] NELSON V. BEGINO, GENER DEL VALLE, MONINA AVILA- LLORIN AND MA. CRISTINA SUMAYAO, petitioners, vs. ABS-CBN CORPORATION (FORMERLY, ABS-CBN BROADCASTING CORPORATION) AND AMALIA VILLAFUERTE, respondents. DECISION PEREZ, J: The existence of an employer-employee relationship is at the heart of this Petition for Review on Certiorari filed pursuant to Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, primarily assailing the 29 June 2011 Decision 1 rendered by the Fourth Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 116928 which ruled out said relationship between the parties. The Facts Respondent ABS-CBN Corporation (formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) is a television and radio broadcasting corporation which, for its Regional Network Group in Naga City, employed respondent Amalia Villafuerte (Villafuerte) as Manager. There is no dispute regarding the fact that, thru Villafuerte, ABS-CBN engaged the services of petitioners Nelson Begino (Begino) and Gener Del Valle (Del Valle) sometime in 1996 as Cameramen/Editors for TV Broadcasting. Petitioners Ma. Cristina Sumayao (Sumayao) and Monina Avila-Llorin (Llorin) were likewise similarly engaged as reporters sometime in 1996 and 2002, respectively. With their services engaged by respondents thru Talent Contracts which, though regularly renewed over the years, provided terms ranging from three (3) months to one (1) year, petitioners were given Project Assignment Forms which detailed, among other matters, the duration of a particular project as well as the budget and the daily technical requirements thereof. In the aforesaid capacities, petitioners were tasked with coverage of news items for subsequent daily airings in respondents’ TV Patrol Bicol Program. 2 While specifically providing that nothing therein shall be deemed or construed to establish an employer-employee relationship between the parties, the aforesaid Talent Contracts included, among other matters, provisions on the following matters: (a) the Talent's creation and performance of work in accordance with the ABS-CBN's professional standards and compliance with its policies and guidelines covering intellectual property creators, industry codes as well as the rules and regulations of the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcasters sa Pilipinas (KBP) and other regulatory agencies; (b) the Talent's non-engagement in similar work for a person or entity directly or indirectly in competition with or adverse to the interests of ABS-CBN and non- promotion of any product or service without prior written consent; and (c) theresults-oriented nature of the talent's work which did not require them to observe normal or fixed working hours. 3 Subjected to contractor's tax, petitioners’ remunerations were denominated as Talent Fees which, as of last renewal, were admitted to be pegged per airing day at P273.35 for Begino, P302.92 for Del Valle, P323.08 for Sumayao and P315.39 for Llorin. 4 Claiming that they were regular employees of ABS-CBN, petitioners filed against respondents the complaint 5 docketed as Sub-RAB 05-04-00041- 07 before the National Labor Relations Commission's (NLRC) Sub-Regional Arbitration Branch No. 5, Naga City. In support of their claims for regularization, underpayment of overtime pay, holiday pay, 13th month pay, service incentive leave pay, damages and attorney's fees, petitioners alleged that they performed functions necessary and desirable in ABS-CBN's business. Mandated to wear company IDs and provided all the equipment they needed, petitioners averred that they worked under the direct control and supervision of Villafuerte and, at the end of each day, were informed about the news to be covered the following day, the routes they were to take and, whenever the subject of their news coverage is quite distant, even the start of their workday. Due to the importance of the news items they covered and the necessity of their completion for the success of the program, petitioners claimed that, under pain of immediate termination, they were bound by the company's policy on, among others, attendance and punctuality. 6 Aside from the constant evaluation of their actions, petitioners were reportedly subjected to an annual competency assessment alongside other ABS-CBN employees, as condition for their continued employment. Although their work involved dealing with emergency situations at any time of the day or night, petitioners claimed that they were not paid the labor standard benefits the law extends to regular employees. To avoid paying what is due them, however, respondents purportedly resorted to the simple expedient of using said Talent Contracts and/or Project Assignment Forms which denominated petitioners as talents, despite the fact that they are not actors or TV hosts of special skills. As a result of this iniquitous situation, petitioners asseverated that they merely earned an average of P7,000.00 to P8,000.00 per month, or decidedly lower than the P21,773.00 monthly salary ABS-CBN paid its regular rank-and-file employees. Considering their repeated re-hiring by respondents for ostensible fixed periods, this situation had gone on for years since TV Patrol Bicol has continuously aired from 1996 onwards. 7 In refutation of the foregoing assertions, on the other hand, respondents argued that, although it occasionally engages in production and generates programs thru various means, ABS-CBN is primarily engaged in the business of broadcasting television and radio content. Not having the full manpower complement to produce its own program, the company had allegedly resorted to engaging independent contractors like actors, directors, artists, anchormen, reporters, scriptwriters and various production and technical staff, who offered their services in relation to a particular program. Known in the industry as talents, such independent contractors inform ABS-CBN of their availability and were required to accomplish Talent Information Forms to facilitate their engagement for and appearance on designated project days. Given the unpredictability of viewer preferences, respondents argued that the company cannot afford to provide regular work for talents with whom it negotiates specific or determinable professional fees on a per project, weekly or dailybasis, usually depending on the budget allocation for a project. 8 Respondents insisted that, pursuant to their Talent Contracts and/or Project Assignment Forms, petitioners were hired as talents, to act as reporters and/or cameramen for TV Patrol Bicol for designated periods and rates. Fully aware that they were not considered or to consider themselves as employees of a particular production or film outfit, petitioners were supposedly engaged on the basis of the skills, knowledge or expertise they already possessed and, for said reason, required no further training from ABS- CBN. Although petitioners were inevitably subjected to some degree of control, the same was allegedly limited to the imposition of general guidelines on conduct and performance, simply for the purpose of upholding the standards of the company and the strictures of the industry. Never subjected to any control or restrictions over the means and methods by which they performed or discharged the tasks for which their services were engaged, petitioners were, at most, briefed whenever necessary regarding the general requirements of the project to be executed. 9 Having been terminated during the pendency of the case, Petitioners filed on 10 July 2007 a second complaint against respondents, for regularization, payment of labor standard benefits, illegal dismissal and unfair labor practice, which was docketed as Sub-RAB 05-08-00107-07. Upon respondents’ motion, this complaint was dismissed for violation of the rules against forum shopping in view of the fact that the determination of the issues in the second case hinged on the resolution of those raised in the first. 10 On 19 December 2007, however, Labor Arbiter Jesus Orlando Quifiones (Labor Arbiter Quifiones) resolved Sub-RAB 05-04-00041-07 in favor of petitioners who, having rendered services necessary and related to ABS-CBN's business for more than a year, were determined to be its regular employees. With said conclusion found to be buttressed by, among others, the exclusivity clause and prohibitions under petitioners’ Talent Contracts and/or Project Assignment Forms which evinced respondents control over them, 12 Labor Arbiter Quifiones disposed of the case in the following wise: WHEREFORE, finding merit in the causes of action set forth by the complainants, judgment is hereby rendered declaring complainants MONINA AVILA-LLORIN, GENER L. DEL VALLE, NELSON V. BEGINO and MA. CRISTINA V. SUMAYAO, as regular employees of respondent company, ABS-CBN BROADCASTING CORPORATION. Accordingly, respondent ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation is hereby ORDERED to pay complainants, subject to the prescriptive period provided under Article 291 of the Labor Code, however applicable, the total amount of Php2,440,908.36, representing salaries/wage differentials, holiday pay, service incentive leave pay and 13th month pay, to include 10% of the judgment award as attorney's fees of the judgment award (computation of the monetary awards are attached hereto as integral part of this decision) Moreover, respondents are directed to admit back complainants to work under the same terms and conditions prevailing prior to their separation or, at respondents’ option, merely reinstated in the payroll. Other than the above, all other claims and charges are ordered DISMISSED for lack of merit. 12